Category Physics

Ultracompact semiconductor could power next-gen AI and 6G chips

chip
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A research team, led by Professor Heein Yoon in the Department of Electrical Engineering at UNIST has unveiled an ultra-small hybrid low-dropout regulator (LDO) that promises to advance power management in advanced semiconductor devices. This innovative chip not only stabilizes voltage more effectively, but also filters out noise—all while taking up less space—opening new doors for high-performance system-on-chips (SoCs) used in AI, 6G communications, and beyond.

The new LDO combines analog and digital circuit strengths in a hybrid design, ensuring stable power delivery even during sudden changes in current demand—like when launching a game on your smartphone—and effectively blocking unwanted noise from the power supply.

What sets this developmen...

Read More

Scientists smash record in stacking semiconductor transistors for large-area electronics

transistor
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST; Saudi Arabia) researchers have set a record in microchip design, achieving the first six-stack hybrid CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) for large-area electronics. With no other reported hybrid CMOS exceeding two stacks, the feat marks a new benchmark in integration density and efficiency, opening possibilities in electronic miniaturization and performance.

A paper detailing the team’s research appears in Nature Electronics.

Among microchip technologies, CMOS microchips are found in nearly all electronics, from phones and televisions to satellites and medical devices. Compared with conventional silicon chips, hybrid CMOS microchips hold greater promise for large-area electronics...

Read More

Quantum simulations that once needed supercomputers now run on laptops

Conceptual illustration of quantum entanglement.
A new method developed by University at Buffalo physicists will allow qunatum dnyamics, like the interaction between two atoms, to be simulated more easily on consumer laptops. 

UB physicists have upgraded an old quantum shortcut, allowing ordinary laptops to solve problems that once needed supercomputers. A team at the University at Buffalo has made it possible to simulate complex quantum systems without needing a supercomputer. By expanding the truncated Wigner approximation, they’ve created an accessible, efficient way to model real-world quantum behavior. Their method translates dense equations into a ready-to-use format that runs on ordinary computers. It could transform how physicists explore quantum phenomena.

Picture diving deep into the quantum realm, where unimaginably ...

Read More

Biohybrid leaf mimics photosynthesis to turn COâ‚‚ and sunlight into useful chemicals

Solar-powered method lights the way to a 'de-fossilized' chemical industry
Semi-artificial organic photocathode (Front view). Credit: Celine Yeung

Researchers have demonstrated a new and sustainable way to make the chemicals that are the basis of thousands of products—from plastics to cosmetics—we use every day.

Hundreds of thousands of chemicals are manufactured by the chemical industry, which transforms raw materials—usually fossil fuels—into useful end products. Due to its size and its use of fossil fuel feedstocks, the chemical industry is responsible for roughly 6% of global carbon emissions.

But researchers led by the University of Cambridge are developing new methods that could one day lead to the “de-fossilization” of this important sector.

They have developed a hybrid device that combines light-harvesting organic polymers with bacter...

Read More